Etching Happiness (Phan One-Shot)

Etching Happiness

Prompt: When irl Dan and Phil first meet and what follows.

Thank you to katlettuce for the prompt! I absolutely loved writing this. Sorry it took so long. I hope you like it! 2009 Phan gives me life

I've been watching a man reading a newspaper for a while now. He's wearing black trousers, white shirt, a patterned tie and shiny black leather shoes and a fleece with a battered poppy pinned to it. I've watched him pick his nose and do nothing else but read. I wonder what he's doing here since he's been here longer than I have and a hundred trains have been and gone.

I shouldn't have left so early, but waiting at home was tortuous and there's only so many times you can clean a house before it starts to look like a showroom instead of your home. Dan's train was due to arrive ten minutes ago but it had been delayed and time was sluggish and slow, making me impatient and bounce my leg up and down, something that made me get a cold glare from the woman next to me. It wasn't enough to make me stop.

There's a weird buzz around the station today. Everyone seems anxious and on edge and I keep seeing puffy red faces and hearing exasperated sighs, particularly when the word 'delayed' rings around the space.

I've got my phone clutched in my hand so tight that I'm slightly startled when it buzzes.

Dan: we're just pulling into Manchester :D <3

I stood up and walked towards the platforms, and texted him back to tell him that I was by the barriers and see you in the minute :D <3

A minute later a flurry of passengers swarm into the station, a mixture of businessmen and mothers with prams and teenagers with moody faces and headphones on their ears, and I'm scanning the crowd to find Dan, but there's no sign of him yet and I'm excited and nervous and feel sick and ecstatic all at once and then I see him - a mass of brown curls and flustered cheeks.

He hasn't seen me yet - his ticket between his teeth, one hand fixing his backpack strap and the other pulling along a small suitcase. He looked even more attractive than the bad webcam over Skype had given away, and even from here I could see his cheekbones and jawline were more defined than the blurry digital picture.

I feel weird watching him like this but I can't look away. And when he puts the ticket in the machine and strides through the barrier, my stomach twists in a nervous manner because holy fuck, he's here. He looks around for me and then he sees me staring right back. His eyes widen and his face breaks into a smile, and the panic of him not liking who I am seems ridiculous now and it washes away.

I watch him walk over to me and I can't stop smiling, my best friend, my beautiful best friend is standing here in front of me for the first time and it's more wonderful than all the situations I've daydreamed about.

"Phil," his voice cracks slightly but I love the way my name rolls off his tongue and I can't say anything so instead pull him close to me, my arms around his neck and then his are around my waist and I love the way we fit together perfectly.

It wasn't the best place to meet, with the sounds of whistles and chatter and suitcases being wheeled around on the polished floor. People keep brushing against Dan and I and someone's complained about us being in the way but that only makes me hug him tighter. I'm too busy breathing in his scent and noticing how his hair is silky and it feels against my skin. I'm too busy appreciating his thin stature and having him in my arms, at last. I'm just too busy with Dan to care about anything else.

We stay like this for a minute or so and when we finally let go of each other I only want him pressed against me again so I do the next best thing of cupping his cheek and looking into those gorgeous eyes and thinking about what it'd be like to wake up next to him in the morning.